Mugabe loses Zanu PF grip

By Fungi Kwaramba

HARARE – There was widespread agreement among political analysts yesterday that President Robert Mugabe, probably owing to advanced age and failing health, has completely lost control of Zanu PF.

Virtually all the analysts canvassed by the Daily News cited the 90-year-old’s impotence in dealing with the ruling party’s escalating factional wars and the country’s deteriorating economy, as well as the unresolved question of his successor, to conclude that he no longer had the capacity to lead the party from the front.

Despite moves by Zanu PF to bar members from using the media to air their grievances and to settle political scores, the directive is being flagrantly defied, observers and analysts said yesterday.

Although party spokesperson Rugare Gumbo has decreed party members against talking to the Press, underlings are presently engaged in an unprecedented war of attrition targeting rivals.

Gumbo was yesterday at pains to explain the deadly wars in Zanu PF.

“I really do not know what is happening, but the position of the party still stands,” he told the Daily News yesterday.

“Our differences should be dealt with inside the party and by the proper platforms and not the media.”

Asked if there was sense that Mugabe has lost control of his party, Gumbo said: “I cannot say much but what I can say is that there is urgent need for the politburo to meet and address these issues.”

The nasty public fights got physical on Monday when Beauty Zhuwao, wife to politburo member and Mugabe’s nephew Patrick, slapped Mashonaland West  provincial chairperson Temba Mliswa right in the face, sparking fears that the situation could degenerate into utter chaos and even killings.

Margaret Dongo, a former Zanu PF legislator, who is now a fierce critic of the ruling party, compared Mugabe to a “toothless bulldog”.

“The president has lost control because he has chosen to be put in the pockets of a certain faction,” she said.

The recent entry into mainstream politics by Mugabe’s wife Grace has angered many in the ruling party amid fears that the 90-year-old is now siding with a particular grouping that is angling to succeed him.

“The president should realise that once you are a leader, you do not have to side with any faction,” Dongo said.

“Now, no one can listen to him because he has chosen a side.”

In defiance of a politburo directive to stop trading barbs through the media, Zanu PF politburo members and senior officials have continued using the media to settle factional scores.

While the State media has on one hand branded 12 Zanu PF officials accused of soliciting for donations from Washington the “dirty dozen”,  Mliswa, who claims Information minister Jonathan Moyo is behind the dirty dozen saga,  has labelled him and another politburo member Saviour Kasukuwere, “gay gangsters”.

Outside congress, the politburo is Zanu PF’s highest decision-making body and there have been calls from some disgruntled members for the powerful political bureau to read the riot act and suspend errant members.

While Mugabe is seen as the glue that holds Zanu PF together, analysts say he is struggling to bind a party split between his potential successors, vice president Joice Mujuru and Justice minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Although Mugabe has refused to announce his retirement, saying he will only step down when he completes two major projects: the controversial land reforms and the on-going empowerment drive to compel foreign firms to cede majority stake to locals,  the impending party congress in December is seen as the sternest test for the 90-year-old veteran.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masungure said Mugabe’s age, coupled with unbridled ambition from his followers, has left him with little power.

“He is still in control but not in the manner he had previously,” Masunungure told the Daily News.

“Both physically and mentally, his power has diminished thus he cannot direct the party anymore. It is a question of gradual loss of control of the party. The party leadership knows that he will be out of the picture soon, thus they are elevating their interests ahead of the leader’s call for unity.”

Pedzisai Ruhanya, director of political think-tank the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute and a democracy scholar, said Mugabe is still in control, albeit indirectly, through State institutions.

“What we are seeing is that there is no longer consensus at the highest level in Zanu PF,” Ruhanya told the Daily News.

“Zanu PF has become an animal farm where some animals are more equal than others. There is need to make sure that the party has rules and regulations governing its members.” Daily News